Cash register



.S. P. MIDQUHAS Nov. 16, 1948.

CASH REGISTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 4, 1948 JNVENTOR.

NOV. 16, 1948. 5, mou s 2,454,000

2 'CASH REGISTER Filed Feb. 4, 1948 r 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 36"- *2 3/ 30 27 f0 73 IN VEN TOR.

WFW

UZ/M MW Nov. 16, 1948.

CASH REGISTER Filed Feb. 4, 1948 s. P. MmouHAs a Shet s-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

KW Wag/M Patented Nov. 16, 1948 CASH REGISTER Stephen P. Midouhas, Bristol, Pa., assignor to Kemline Metal Products Company, Bristol, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 4, 1948, Serial No. 6,262

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to cash registers, and relates more particularly to a novel register of inexpensive construction which may be adapted for use as a toy, although it may also be embodied in a commercial machine of simple construction.

An important object of the invention is to provide a novel cash register having plural keys for registering varying amounts, say from five cents to one dollar, and wherein designating plates, one for each key, are arranged to be raised when the keys are depressed. Thus, each key and its associated plate have similar monetary units imprinted thereon, and when the designating plate is raised, the monetary unit becomes visible.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for retaining the plate in its elevated position while providing for its instant release when another key is depressed and its plate raised. Such means include the provision of vertically-spaced, elongated openings in the plate and a finger for each plate, the several fingers being carried by a pivoted bail. When a key is in its lowered position, the finger is disposed in the uppermost opening, and as the plate is raised when a key is depressed, the pivoted bail is arranged to rotate sufficiently to cause the finger to retract from the opening and then to enter the lower opening to support the plate in raised position before it falls due to gravity.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for rotating the bail comprising another pivoted bail arranged to be raised when a key is depressed, the two bails having interconnecting driving means therebetween,

A still further object of the invention is to provide improved means for releasing the cash drawer for outward movement when a key is depressed, the arrangement further providing means for ringing a bell.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cash register embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, the section being taken on line 22 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 3 is a broken vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken at right angles to the section of Fig. 3, the section being taken substantially through the center of the register.

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4, but shows the relation of the parts when the drawer is in extended position.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of F18. 4.

The register of the present invention is provided with a housing which may be formed from sheet metal and includes a base wall ID, a rear wall I I, and an upper curved wall [2 whose front section 13 is formed with an opening I4 through which the designation plates may be seen. If desired, this opening may be provided with a suitable transparent window (not shown). Continuing forwardly, there is a curved section [5 and a horizontal front wall or shelf IS. The foregoing sections may, if desired, be formed from one continuous blank. Finally, the housing includes end walls I! and [8. At its forward end, the housing is formed with an opening [9 to receive a cash drawer 23 which is provided with a front wall 24 and partitions 25 forming plural money compartments, It is formed with end walls 26 and 21, the lower edges of which slide on base wall 10 when the drawer is opened.

Means for moving the drawer outwardly to expose the compartments comprise an elongated, coiled tension spring 30 which is secured at its terminals in openings 31 in side walls 26 and 21. When the drawer is closed, the spring engages the forward faces of spaced angle brackets 32 and 33 secured on the upper surface of base wall l0, and the spring is under tension. The drawer is normally held in closed position within the housing, and when it is released for movement, as hereinafter described, it springs outwardly due to the action of spring 30. In its outward travel a depending finger 34 having a rear, inclined edge 35, which is carried on the lower surface of the drawer at its rear edge, contacts a lever 36 hinged at 31 on the base wall. to the opposite end of the lever, the spring being secured to the base wall at M. Thus, the free end of the lever is moved forwardly under spring tension, and when finger 34 releases the lever, it moves rearwardly with a rapid stroke and strikes a bell 42 mounted on the base wall. Outward movement of the drawer is limited by finger 34 which contacts an angle bracket 44 carried on the base wall adjacent its forward edge, When the drawer is manually closed, inclined edge 35 of finger 34 cams lever 36 slightly downwardly in order to pass rearwardly of such lever.

The mechanism includes plural keys 45 and 4B which are identical in construction, except that the forward edges of keys 45 are disposed on a lower plane than the forward edges of keys 46. The keys pass through elongated, vertical slots 41 in curved wall I 5. Each of the keys has a fingerpiece 50, andon the upper surfaces thereof are printed the numerical designations, as shown at A spring 40 is connected One keys and 2 6, and the lower edge of each slot forms a fulcrum for the key which is formed with an inverted V-shaped notch 5%.

A second, generally U-shaped frame member has an upper wall 6i extending the full width of upper housing section [2. It further includes a vertical section 52 which is secured at 63 to the rear wall ll of the housing, and a lower wall of lesser width than its upper wall. These walls are-provided Withpluralsets of aligned, rectangular openings lid-which receive and support designating plates (iii and 5'! which are arranged in tworows, front and rear, respectively. On each of th'ese plates is imprinted a number, shown at l I, which corresponds with the number on the ke which has been depressed, and which actuates the plate. Each plate is provided with a short slot 12 at its lower end, a short, intermediate, elongated-opening l3, and an upper, somewhat longer opening M.

The rear terminal 75 of each lower key normally rests on the upper edge of frame 5 4 and supports a front designating plate 85, such terminal being received in slot 72. Similarly, the rear terminal it of each upper key 4% supports rear designating plate 6? and is received'in the slot at its lower end. It will be seen from this arrangement that when a key is depressed, it raises a designating plate from lowered position, where in its number ll is not visible, to an upper position where it is.

A generally horizontal bail til is formed with ears 8i at its opposite ends which are pivotally mounted at 82 on the end walls of the housing. A spring 83 urges the bail downwardly, and a rib 8d extending longitudinally of the bail rests upon the upper edges of keys 5-5 and it, normally urging them downwardly to the rear of the fulcrum. An angular lever 85 forming a drawer latch is provided with a hook portion 86 which overlies the rear edge of bail 3123. At its opposite end it is fulcrumed at 81 in frame 52. At its elbow it is formed with a finger @l which passes through an opening 92 in frame 53, and when in lowered position it engages a bracket 89 rigidly supported at the rear of drawer 23 and holds the drawer in closed position. When the lever is raised, however, it releases the drawer for forward travel.

The bail 80 further carries on its upper surface an angular bracket having a base 93 and a hook portion 94. A second bale 95 has inturned ear portions 96 which are pivotally mounted On a shaft 91 mounted at opposite ends thereof in frame extension as which may be formed into grally with frame 62. Bail 95 is formed with a front extension llll having a generally centrally disposed, laterally extending lug Hill which overlies and which is engaged by an upwardly extend-- ing projection 95- on bail 86 forming a cam sur-- face. Bail $5 is further provided with spaced, relatively short, rearwardly-extending fingers lilil, and with alternately disposed, somewhat longer fingers Hit. The rear terminals of fingers 66 and H13 normally lie to the rear of front and rear designating plates 66 and 61, respectively. Thus, when all the plates are down, the fingers reside in longer slots M in such plates. A torsion spring 5M carried at each end of longitudinal shaft Ell urges bail 95 in a clockwise direction, when viewed as in Fig. l, and accordingly urges fingers l and W3 carried thereby rearw'ardly.

When a plate is in raised position it is supported in such position by a finger its or H33 which has entered the lower slot 73. When in lowered position, the finger enters upper slot M which has no function except to provide a clear space for the finger to enter.

The operation of the register is as follows. The parts are normally in the position shown in Fig. 4. The front sections of all keys are in raised position, and the rear sections are held in lowered position due to the action of spring 83 urging bail fiii'downwardly. Now one of the lower keys 45 is depressed, as shown in Fig. 5. This raises one of the front designating plates $8. This movement raises bail 8!) against the tension of spring which raises the free end of lever 85, thus releasing the cash drawer for outward travel.

lateral lug l on bail 95, acts to rotate the latter in a counterclockwise position when viewed as in Fig. 5 against the tension of springs Hi l. This movement draws fingers tilt and E63 carried by bail 95 forwardly, which frees the fingers from the longer slots "i l in the plates, thus permitting upward travel of the plates. This movement oc curs simultaneously with the raising of the desighating plate.

Since elementsii i and N32 are jo-urnalled on different axes, they travel in difierent arcuate paths,- and when bail 95 has thus been rotated slightly, lug is freed from engagement with cam element and bail and its fingers spring back to starting position, which occurs before the raised plate can fall, due to gravity and to the release of the depressed key. This action causes one of the fingers to enter the shorter, intermediate slot if; in the raised plate, thus holding the plate in raised position until the next key is de-- pressed. Upon the release of the key, lug I62 on bail has already returned to starting position, and lug on bail 88 moves to its initial position under the other cam element.

Single keys may be depressed or plural keys, and in case of the latter, plural designating plates are raised and retained in such position.

While one form or embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein for illustrative purposes, and the construction and arrangemerit incidental to a specific application thereof have disclosed and discussed in detail, it is to-b-e understood that the invention is limited neither to the more details or relative arrangement of parts, nor to its specific embodiment shown herein, but that extensive deviations from the illustrated form or embodiment of the invention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

What I claim is:

i. In a cash register, the combination of a housing, plural operating keys extending from the housing, a fixed frame member providing substantially centrally disposed fulcrums for the keys, plural designating plates mountedfor vertical-sliding movement and having'vertically spaced slots and contacting the rear terminal of the keys and arranged to be raised thereby'when the forward ends of the ke are depressed, pivoted bail overlying the keys to the rear of the fulcrums Cam I element carried by bail 8i and which underlies and arranged to be raised by such keys, 2. second bail pivotally mounted at its upper end and arranged to swing forwardly and provided with rearwardly extending fingers, each of which is normally disposed in the upper slot in one plate when the latter is in lowered position and in the lower slot when the plate is in upper position to support such plate, a spring which urges the second bail rearwardly, an upwardly projecting cam element carried by the first bail and a laterally extending lug carried by the second bail and which normally overlies the cam element and is moved thereby to swing the second bail forwardly to disengage the fingers from the slots during travel of the plates.

2. In a cash register, the combination of a frame, plural operating keys provided with numerical indicia at their forward ends, a fixed frame member providing fulcrums for the keys intermediate their ends, a designating plate for each key and having vertically spaced slots and contacting the rear terminal of such key and arranged to be raised thereby when the forward end of the key is depressed, each plate being provided at its upper end with numerical indicium corresponding to that on the key which it contacts, a generally horizontal bail pivotally mounted on the frame adjacent the axis of the key fulcrum and positioned so as to overlie the keys to the rear of the fulcrums so as to be raised by such keys, 5], second pivoted bail provided with rearwardly extending fingers, each of which is disposed in the upper slot in one plate when the latter is in lowered position and in the lower slot when the plate is in upper position to support such plate, a spring for urging the second bail rearwardly, means for withdrawing the fingers from the slots to allow for travel of the plate, such means comprising a laterally projecting lug carried adjacent the lower edge of the second bail and an upwardly extending cam element carried by the first bail which normally underlies the lug and which is arranged to cam the lug, and the bail upon which it is supported, rearwardly when the cam element moves generally upwardly upon the depressing of a key, the cam element releasing the lug for rearward travel after limited forward travel to allow the fingers to re-enter the slots in the plates.

STEPHEN P. MIDOUI-IAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 555,407 Smithson Feb. 25, 1896 1,141,547 I-Ieyman June 1, 1915 1,906,361 Berry May 2, 1933 

